


Between the Two

by BaconWaffle16



Series: The Tales [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap, Chara is gon be flamin', F/F, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gen, Mystery, Named Reader, Non-Linear Narrative, OH WHAT CAN THAT MEAN, Other, Papyrus is a bro, Reader Is Not Chara, Reader Is Not Frisk, Reader-Insert, Series, US!Sans is bae, Underswap Papyrus, Underswap Sans, everything is not what it seems, lol idk, oneshots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-12-13
Packaged: 2018-09-02 23:48:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8688322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaconWaffle16/pseuds/BaconWaffle16
Summary: A series of one-shots starring you (well, sort of), as you build a life and friendships with the odd little universe known as Underswap. But why does it feel so...wrong? And what are these dreams that haunt you...?





	1. Falling Down

It barely feels like a fall. A fall should be pulling at your skin, making you lose breath, maybe even cracking your neck with the gravity. It shouldn’t feel like a dream, the sort where you float back onto your bed, back into reality. Maybe that’s why you don’t really wake up until long after you’ve laid on the bed of yellow flowers—until you hear his voice.

“...Hello? Is anyone—oh no!”

A hand is on your shoulder, too big but also too small (somehow?), and he starts shaking you.

“Are you okay...? Can you hear me?” The child asks, his voice cracking with worry.

You try to open your eyelids, but they feel too heavy; everything does, and it all hurts. You’re likely going to be feeling this fall for a while. But you  want to show that you’re still alive, so you let out a sound, or at least try to.

“I-I’m sorry...I don’t know how to heal wounds like yours yet,” he says, so soft. Like a flower. And then: “But my dad does! Hold on, I’ll get him...”

 _No, please_ , you want to tell him, a sudden fear shuddering through you. The idea of being alone again, even for a second, leaves you breathless. _Please, don’t leave..._

But he is already gone.

* * *

 

 

Red eyes.

A knife...

Dust.

Blood?

But...but who—

_“...We’re running out of options.”_

_“...RUN, HUMAN. KEEP RUNNING, AND DON’T YOU LOOK BACK, NO MATTER WHAT!”_

_“...So much death...I can’t take it anymore!”_

_“Everyone—Monsters, humans—I can feel our hearts beating as one...!”_

_“...i’m sorry...”_

—Who is holding the knife?

* * *

You wake up gasping, a cold sweat dripping down your head. With wide eyes, you take in your surroundings and realize—with some leftover panic and maybe a little relief—you are no longer in that dark cavern, where you fell. You are now in a house, nestled in a bed. After taking some calming breaths, you carefully sit up. Was it just a dream?

“Ah, you’re awake.”

Nearly starting at the new voice, you whip over to look in the doorway and see—

_...Huh?_

The huge goat man (???) smiles, kind and warm, despite his opposing size. He has blond-ish hair that framed his face and is wearing a large purple tunic with a strange symbol on it. He gently puts down the tray he was holding ( _Tea and cookies..._ ), onto a little table near the bed. Then he pulls out a chair and sits, facing you.

“You probably have a lot of questions, a lot that I can’t answer right now—well, except to say.” He pauses to grin a little more, tentative but still warm. “Welcome to the Underground.”

 


	2. Backwards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little fragment of what happened to you before the Fall; and some glimpses into your new normal.

**[Fragment]**

When you open your eyes, it’s to a partial view outside a window—a view out to Snowdin, after freshly fallen snow. A familiar scene that fills you with warmth, even as a chill grows in the air. After mentally checking your calendar, you remember that today is the day when the Monsters of Snowdin put up and decorate their Christmas tree. Today is going to be so perfect.

You carefully place your dripping, now clean plate to the side to dry, and shake the excess water from your fingers. Then you move to your room, knowing that you’re going to need to dress in layers to put up with today’s weather. After doing a quick search through your drawers, you pull on a pair of wool socks, jeans over leggings, and a thick beige, turtleneck sweater. Then you put on your sneakers and rush for your coat and red hat.

When you open the door, you’re face to face with a waking Snowdin—Monsters opening up shops, putting miscellaneous decorations up on trees, practicing their carols, Monster children playing together—until you see your favorite skeleton brothers, walking towards their sentries. Once you step out your house, you walk towards them first.

Predictably, Sans is the first to see you, and with a widening grin, he pats Papyrus and gestures towards you—to which Papyrus comes even more to life.

“HUMAN,” he says with an eager wave, “YOU’RE AWAKE!”

“enjoy your sleep?” Sans says with a wink. “hear you’re so good at it you can do it with your eyes closed.”

 _This fucker._ You smirk back at him and cock your hip to the side, replying, “Of course. But waking up today was the real _eye-opening_ experience.”

Sans snorts, just as Papyrus shoots a glare at the both of you.

“I HATE BOTH OF YOU. IT ISN’T EVEN 9AM YET,” he says.

You giggle, then pat his arm—since you’re too short to reach his shoulder. “Sorry, Paps. You know I can’t resist.”

“IT’S FINE, HUMAN. I’M MORE UPSET AT THIS ONE,” he says pointedly at his brother. “YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER!”

“you’re right, bro.” Sans nods, hints of a smirk in his grin. “i should be _ice_ to you this time of year...”

“UGH—”

A giggle-snort escapes you, but you quickly cover your mouth for Papyrus’s dignity. Then you quickly check your UG-phone for the time—oh, it’s almost time for work.

“Hate to say it, dudes,” you tell them. “But I’ve gotta go. My shift at the library is starting in fifteen minutes.”

Sans gives you a look, one that sends a weight to your gut. “want me to drop you off?”

You think about the last time he dropped you off with his...trick, and you blush. He held you so close last time—purely for your safety, of course—and with how things have been between you two lately, you feel you should be careful when it comes to getting that close again (well, a little bit).

“U-um, no, no thank you. It’s not far, so I should make it in time,” you say, rubbing the back of your neck, your cheeks red and hot. Then, a thought comes to you—risky, but one that fills you with DETERMINATION—and you smile at Sans.

“B-but maybe we can go have dinner later, at Grillbys? Then see the lighting of the tree?” You hunch your shoulders, smiling into your sweater’s cowl, cheeks flushed. “It’ll be my first year seeing it...”

Sans blinks and shrugs, his attempt at nonchalance only dimmed by his near beaming grin. “sure. pick you up at 6?” He asks with a raised brow.

You beam. “Yes, that’s perfect!”

“great. see you then.”

“Same. See you, Papyrus!”

Papyrus waves as you leave. “SEE YOU, HUMAN!”

As you start in the direction of the Snowdin Library, you glance behind you to see Papyrus saying something to Sans (low, for once) with a teasing (maybe proud?) grin, and Sans lightly punching him at his battle armor.

With a light giggle, you turn back around and nearly skip over to work. Today is going to be a good day.

* * *

**The New Normal**

[1]

Your eyes pop open the minute someone kicks your bedroom door open.

“Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey, motherfucker,” a familiar voice greets with an obnoxious measure of cheer.

With a groan, you shut your eyes again and curl into your blankets, burrow your face into your pillow—anything to hide you from the little bastard. Not that it ever works, but hey, points for trying.

“Now, now, don’t be mean,” they continue. “You promised Azzy that you’d take him out to Muffet’s for breakfast.”

( _Whoa, “Azzy”? Who is—?_ )

“CELIA!!!”

As a small body dives into you, you lose a bit of your breath and you’re brought back to reality. With a light sigh, you sit up to see Asriel on your lap, grinning up at you with his little tail wagging. Despite how rudely they interrupted your sleep, you can’t help but smile.

“Celia, I want spider pancakes!” He says, “And donuts! And, and, and...”

“Coffee,” Chara adds with a smirk.

“Yeah, coffee!”

 _Ha-ha, fuck no_. “ _No_ , no coffee,” you say, sending Chara a pointed glare. “For either of you.”

“Aw, c’mon—!”

“Pretty please, Celia—!”

“ _No._ ”

[2]

“Okay, be honest, how do you keep getting into my apartment?” You ask Chara as you crouch to zip up their winter coat. “I’ve changed the locks twice now.”

Chara winks one dark eye, one finger to their lips. “Spoilers.”

Propping an elbow on your knee, you look at Chara for a moment. Chara is the only other human down in the Underground, and they arrived long before you; and yet, there is something about them that feels...“off” feels like the wrong word. But so does “familiar,” sort of. Yeah, there are moments with Chara where you feel, _I have had this conversation before_ , or _I have done this before_ —but it all feels backwards. Like it’d all been with someone else.

In a way, Chara is just like the Underground. Familiar, but backwards.

You snort, then lift a hand to tussle their hair, allowing yourself to smile as they giggle. “Brat.”

 [3]

As the three of you walk through Snowdin, in the direction of Muffet’s, you can’t help but observe the excitement happening around you. Monster children playing in snow, Monsters putting up decorations, buying packages of presents, and gathering around a huge tree in the center of town. Something important is happening today, but what?

Asriel notices your confusion, and beams. “It’s the first day of the Christmas season!”

Holy shit, is it? You mentally check your calendar. What month had it been when you fell? How long have you been here...?

“Tonight, everyone is going to put up a decoration on the Snowdin tree and light it up for the season,” Chara adds, pointing back at the big pine tree. “It’s a big thing that happens every year.”

“Yeah,” Asriel says, “we light the tree, then sing carols, and dance—it’s really cool. You should come to it tonight, Celia.”

Frowning in thought, you look around Snowdin. It really does sound and look fun—but your boss at the library said she’d need extra help today, so you might end up working a little late.

“I’ll have to talk to my boss,” you say to them. “But we’ll see.”

[4]

The walk to Muffet’s diner is short, and finding a table is just as easy. However, because you are traveling with two rather rambunctious—and well known—children, it is easy to attract attention. Especially when you start lecturing Asriel on his intent to order nothing but pancakes and other sweets for breakfast.

“...Asriel, for the thousandth time,” you say, rolling your eyes. “You cannot survive on carbs alone—even carbs made of spiders. You should eat some eggs, or some form of protein at least.”

Chara smirks, “Maybe snails.”

“Screw that!” Asriel spits back with a sneer. “Snails are _gross_.”

“Whoa, easy there on the language,” you say, raising an eyebrow. _That’s not like him..._ Feeling worried, you gently stroke his head, making sure to scratch him behind the ears—that usually calms him down.

“S-sorry,” he stammers, burrowing his face into his arms, muttering, “I just don’t like snails...”

“Don’t listen to her, little Dreemur,” a woman says as she walks up to their table, her voice lilting. “I for one think pancakes are the perfect breakfast food—especially when they’re made of spiders, for spiders!”

You smirk up at Muffet. “Figures you’d say that.”

Muffet giggles cordially, two hands behind her back as her other pair pulls out a notepad and pen. She smiles down at her patrons, her eyes gleaming.

“Are you all ready to order?”

[5]

“well, this is a surprise. aren’t you usually dead to the world by this time?”

A grin spreads across your face, before you remember yourself and swallow your food. Then, with a smirk, you turn around to face him.

“I can say the same for you.” Raising an eyebrow, you ask, “Decided to marinate in the honey a little early, huh?”

Papyrus chuckles around his unlit cigarette and rubs the back of his skull.

“H-h-hi Papyrus,” Asriel speaks up, his cheeks flushing beneath his fur.

Chara beams. “Dude, I was wondering where you were. Wanna sit?” They ask, already in the process of moving down the booth.

“i’d like to, kid, trust me—but i was actually hoping the lovely, so-kind lady muffet would do me a favor,” he says, shifting a pointed, near pleading look to Muffet, who is standing behind her juice/coffee bar.

Muffet frowns and crosses her front arms over her thorax. “What sort of favor?”

Suddenly: “PAPYRUS!”

“hide me.”

You nearly snort into your coffee. “What.”

Papyrus dives under a nearby table, his sockets wide and his grin a little more tense than usual. He puts a boney finger to his grin and gestures all of you to be quiet—but you already know that’s not going to help you.

Again, with a tinge of anger: “PAPYRUS.”

“Oh, this gon be good,” Chara smirks wide enough to show teeth.

You don’t comment, but your eyes shift to the door and stay there.

And then, with little preamble, the door is kicked open.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Confused? Yeah, I know. But it'll get more concrete later.
> 
> Up next time: You interact with Sans. It doesn't end how you think.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so I know that some of you are wondering, "Bacon, what about all that sin with Sans?"
> 
> I'm still working on it. I just have a lot on my plate right now. (Grad school, Research proposals, teaching jobs, etc.)
> 
> Anyway, this has been in my think tank for a while now...I figure now's a good time to let it out before I forget.
> 
> Warning: Plot is non-linear, and mostly Slice-of-Life. But there is definitely something else going on. It'll all come together eventually.


End file.
